Marawah Island, which forms part of a UNESCO Marine Biosphere Reserve of the same name, is home to a number of archaeological sites. Uncovered by Abu Dhabi Islands Archaeological Survey, ADIAS – these date from the Neolithic (also referred to as the Late Stone Age) to the Late Islamic period.

Located approximately 100 kilometres from the west coast of Abu Dhabi island, one of the most significant findings at Marawah is a limestone structure of distinguished build quality with walls 50 centimetres thick. Once inhabited, there is evidence to suggest that it could have been later transformed to a tomb. Accordingly amongst other relics dating between the mid-sixth to mid-fifth Century BC, an adult male skeleton, dugong bones, a beautifully decorated high-necked jar that could have originated from western Iran, arrowheads, beads and buttons made of pearl oyster shell have been excavated.

Further evidencing continuity of habitation, archaeological sites on the island include wells and a water catchment system whose purpose might have been to collect rainwater, a campsite complex of 160 hearths from the late third to the late first millennium BC and also the second to fourth centuries AD, and an Islamic period mosque and cemetery.